Driving-head for washing-machines.



W. ERNI & A. H. WARD.

DRIVING HEAD FOR WASHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I9, I915.

1 1 50,855 Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

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APPLICATION. FILED APR. 1.9, 1.915.

Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

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W. ERNI (IL A. H. WARD.

DRIVING HEAD FOR WASHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 19, 1915.

l, 1 50,855. Patented Aug. 24, 1915.

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DRIVING-HEAD FOR WASH ING-MAGHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 2%, 1915.

Application filed April 19, 1 915. Serial No. 22,250.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WALTER ERNI and ARTHUR H. WARD, citizens of the United States, residing at Pewaukee, county of WVaukesha, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Driving-Heads for Washingflllachines, of which the followingis a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in driving heads for washing machines of the rotary drum type.

The object of our invention is to. provide simple and effective means for actuating and automatically reversing the direction of rotation of a washing drum in which the driv- 1ng motor or engine will be relieved from starting and stopping strains and in which the movement of the drum may be made subject to control by the operator without stopping the engine or motor, whereby the operator may insert or remove clothing from the drum at any desired interval by merely shifting a controlling lever and Without im-.

posing the shock incident to the shifting of an ordinary clutch.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a washing machine to which our invention has been applied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 1 is a detail view of the oscillatory reversing gear members and their supports in front elevation. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, showing the shifting lever and manually operated clutch in front elevation, the link 12 being shown in cross section.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters throughout the several views. i

A main driving shaft .1 may be actuated from any suitable source of power through a pulley 2 employed in connection with a loose or idle pulley 3 of ordinary type.

4 is an electrical motor which may be employed to drive the shaft 1 through a pinion 5 and gear wheel 6, when it is not "desired to employ the power through the pulley 2. A friction wheel 7, preferably having a cone shaped face 8, and hereinafter referred to as'the cone wheel 7 for convenience'in description, is mounted upon a shaft 9 which carries pinions 11 at'its respective ends. Motion is communicated from these pinions 11 to the clothes containing drum 12 through the gear wheels 13 and 14. A train of gears 11, 13 and 141 is preferably employed at each end of the drum,

although it is not essential that they should be used at more than one end.

The cone wheel 7 may be actuated in one direction from shaft 1 through the beveled gear wheels 17 and 18, 19 and 20, shaft 21, and cone pinion 22 fast thereon, said cone pinion 22 being so arranged that it may be shifted into and out of contact with cone wheel 7. But when it is desired to drive cone wheel 7 in the opposite direction, the motion of shaft 21 is communicated to the cone wheel 7 through cone pinion 23 fast on shaft 21, and which is adapted to be shifted into and out of contact with cone wheel 7 in alternation with the shifting movement of pinion 22. The cone pinions engage cone wheel. 7 on opposite sides of its center.

The operation of shifting the cone pinions 22 and 23' alternately into and out of contact with cone wheel 7, is automatically performed, the shifting motion being derived from the shaft 1. It will be observed in Fig. 4: that the shaft 1 is journaled in a frame member 25, having pivot studs 26 and 27 in a vertical line which crosses the axis of shaft 1. These pivot studs 26 and 27 are journaled in a frame 28, which is rigidly clamped to frame bars or rods 29 connected with the frame 30 of the washing machine. The location of the pivot studs 26 and 27 allows shaft 21 to swing upon the center line or vertical axis of said studs, thereby swinging one of the cones 22 or 23 forwardly anr. the other backwardly. By mounting the beveled gear Wheels 18 and 19 upon a vertical shaft, the aXis of which coincides with the 3X18 of the pivot studs, this swinging movement may take place without interfering with the transmission of power from driving shaft 1 to shaft 21.

The shifting movement derived from shaft 1, as above stated, is transmitted through a worm 35 on said shaft, worm wheel 36, cam 37, connecting rod 38, lever 39, swiveled coupling member 40, coupling lever 41 and flexibly jointed link 12, the latter being connected with one side of'the oscillatory frame 25. Lever 39 is pivoted to the machine frame at 44;. Coupling member 10 is swiveled to the lever 39 at an intermediate point and is provided with upwardly projecting flanges between which link 42 passes, this end of the link being rectangular in cross section and fitted to slide between said flanges, Th6 link is formed in Sections connected together by a pivot pin 47, there by forming a flexible joint. A V-shaped bracket 49 is carried by the lever 39 and is provided with a notch 50 in which the lever 41 may engage. A similar bracket 51 is fixed to the machine frame and is provided with a notch 52 in which said lever 41 may engage when swung to the position in which it is illustrated in Fig. 3. The lever 41 will engage in the notch 52 when the parts are in neutral position with both cone pinions (22 and 23) retracted from the cone wheel 7. In this position of lever 41, no motion will be transmitted from lever 39 to link 42,

since link 42 will then be free to slide between the guide flanges on coupling member 40. But when lever 41 is swung in the opposite direction and engaged'in notch 50, link 42 will then be coupled to lever 39 and will move with it.

It will be observed that connecting rod 38 is provided with an enlarged extremity 6O slotted at 61 and supported by the transverse shaft 62 upon which worm wheel 36 and cam- 37 are mounted. The connecting rod 38 carries a roller 64 which travels in cam groove 65 during one half of the revolution of cam 37 said roller traveling upon the outer surface 67 of the cam during the remaining portion of said revolution. The straight portions 68 of the cam groove 65 are the shifting portions of the cam, the con-' necting rod 38 being then actuated longitudinally to transmit the shifting movement to lever 39 and thence to the cone pinions 22 and 23 through the connections above described, when lever 41 is in coupling relation with the lever bracket 49. A connecting rod 38 is formed in sections connected with each other by a turn buckle 70, whereby the length of this rod may be varied to take up wear upon the cone surfaces and insure a i motion transmitting frictional engagement between the cones 22 and 23 respectively and the cone wheel 7.

, 1 Briefly describing the operation of the machine and assuming that it is desired to 5" open the drum door 75 to insert or remove clothing or Washing fluid, clutch lever 41 will then be in the position in which it is illustrated in Fig.3, both cones 22 and 23 being out of contact with the conical face 8 of icons wheel 7. The power, however, may be continuously applied to shaft 1. After closl6"6I"l-1 into position for engagement with I the bracket 49. This bracket 49'is moving. back and forth with lever 39 and as soon as the notch 50 is brought in registry with lever-41, the latter will drop into the notch, whereupon the continued revolution of cam I wheel 37.will transmit a shifting movement from the connecting rod 38 to link 42 upon completion of each half revolution of the 7 cam. Assuming the cam to rotate in the diuntil cam 62 has rotated a one half turn, 7

whereupon the roller 64 will enter the cam groove from the opposite side and will be drawn in toward the center of the cam, thereby moving connecting rod "38 forwardly until cone pinion 22 engages cone wheel 7. During the cone shifting period, a

drum 12 will tend to come to rest since it will be disconnected from the source of power, but owing to the fact that'friction cones are employed, it is obvious that if 1 the drum has not come to rest, cone 22 willfirst act as a brake to bring it to rest and then as a friction'clutch to start it in motion in the opposite direction, the slipping of the cone surfaces preventing the transmission of shocks to the other portions of the machinery duringithe period required for overcoming inertia. Owing to the form of the portions 68 of thecam grooves, it is obvious that the pressure of the cone faces may be gradually increased and the cone wheels may if desired be formed of material which will yield slightly under such increased pressure. The full driving pressure will therefore not be exerted until after the drum has commenced to revolve in thedi-V rection of power transmission. 7 V V 7 It will be observed that the pinions 11 are of less diameter than the gear wheels' 13 and these are in turn of less diameter than the gear wheels 14. The drum therefore will be revolved at slow speed and correspondingly light power will be required for driving shaft 1. It will also be observed that inasmuch as'the friction wheels are interposed between shaft 1 and the pinions 1. A driving header for washing/ma;

chines, including the combination with a V fixed frame, of an oscillatory frame cengtrally pivotedtherein ona central axis, a,

set of driving cones supported by the oscillatory frame, means for continuously actuating said cones, anda driven cone adapted to be engaged in alternation by said driving cones on opposite'sides ofthe axis of the driven cone, substantially as described.

2. A driving header ,for washing machines, including the combination with a rotary drum, of a fixed frame mounted above the drum, an oscillatory frame journaled to the fixed frame on a vertical axis, a set of driving friction pinions mounted in said oscillatory frame on opposite sides of said vertical axis, a driven friction wheel operatively connected with the rotary drum and supported for engagement with the friction pinions alternately on opposite sides of its center, and means for swinging said oscillatory frame at predetermined intervals to bring one or the other of said driving frame pinions into engagement with the friction wheel.

3. A driving header for washing machines. including the combination with a rotary drum, of a fixed frame mounted above the drum, an oscillatory frame journaled to the fixed frame on a vertical axis, a set of driving friction pinions mounted in said oscillatory frame on opposite sides of said vertical axis, a driven friction wheel operativcly connected with the rotary drum and supported for engagement with the friction pinions alternately on opposite sides of its center, and means for automatically swinging said oscillatory frame at predetermined intervals to bring one or the other of said driving frame pinions into engagement with the friction wheel.

4. A driving header for washing machines, including the combination with a rotary drum, of a fixed frame mounted above the drum, an oscillatory frame journaled to the fixed frame on a vertical axis, a set of driving friction pinions mounted in said oscillatory frame on opposite sides of said ver tical axis, a driven friction wheel operatively connected with the rotary drum and supported for engagement with the friction pinions alternately on opposite sides of its center, means for automatically swinging said oscillatory frame at predetermined intervals to bring one or the other of said driving frame pinions into engagement with the friction wheel, and means for manually disconnecting said automatically shifting means.

5. A reversing gear for washing machines, comprising an oscillatory frame provided with a set of driving pinions on opposite sides of the axis of oscillation, in combination with a driving shaft operatively connected to actuate said pinions, a worm on said shaft, a worm wheel actuated thereby, a cam carried by the worm wheel, and a connecting rod in operative relation to said cam and connected with the oscillatory frame, said cam having rod actuating members adapted to move said rodlongitudinally and alternately in opposite directions during each revolution of the cam.

6. A driving head for washing machines, comprising the combination with a fixed frame, of an oscillatory frame journaled therein, a set of driving members carried by said oscillatory frame on opposite sides of the axis of oscillation, a rotary driven member adapted to be engaged by said driving members on opposite sides of its axis of rotation, a shifting lever connected with said oscillatory frame, and means connected with the source of power for periodically actuating said shifting lever in opposite directions.

7. A driving head for washing machines,

comprising the combination with a fixed frame, of an oscillatory frame journaled therein, a set of driving members carried by said oscillatory frame on opposite sides of the axis of oscillation, a rotary driven member adapted to be engaged by said driving members on opposite sides of its axis of r0- tation, a shifting lever, a flexible link connected with the oscillatory frame and having sliding connection with said shifting lever, manually operated coupling means for fixedly connecting said link with the lever, and means for automatically actuating said lever atpredetermined intervals, substantially as described.

8. The combination with a washing drum, of a set of frictional driving pinions, a driven friction wheel adapted to be engaged by said driving pinions on opposite sides of its center, and a set of speed reduction gears operatively connecting the friction wheel with said drum, together with means for actuating the driving pinions alternately into and out of motion transmitting relation to the driven friction wheel.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in, the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER ERNI. ARTHUR H. WARD. Witnesses:

LEVERETT C. WHEELER, IRMA D. BREMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.- Washington, D. G. 

